Bon Voyage: The Foreign Lands Await!
It had been a week since Seireitou and Raian had their fight. Both put up their strongest attacks, and in the end, each lost something but also gained something similar: a new resolve. Seireitou had been training with his opponent from the Hell Tournament, Yukara, in learning the ancient Kawahiru teachings of Getsudō, as well as picking up a few new tricks as well. Being supplied with a vessel that would allow Seireitou to transverse the spiritual seas, Seireitou made plans for his departure for the land of Yāolù. *'Location:' Isla de Reliquum Footsteps could be heard down a long narrow hallway, in which a blue-haired man with royal purple robes was walking down. He soon entered a large conferance room, complete with a massive space for echo-effect, and a large silver round table located dead-center. The man took a seat at the largest of the five seats placed around the large table, and crossed his arms, as if waiting for others to arrive. Soon after, two men were walking down the very same hallway. The first was a black-grey haired man with a more formal attire than the previous man was walking alongside a tan-skin woman with long raven hair and golden accessories. Both took their respective seats, as the man from earlier spoke up. "Chancellor William, Queen Isis. Welcome to the World Court meeting." the man stated. "It is a pleasure, Emperor Sao Feng." William answered, as Isis then spoke in a very soft yet feminine voice. "Might I ask why you've brought us here, Sao Feng? And where are the other two?" she asked. "I'm afraid Aether's leader is being decided upon, and Yeshua was not invited because of bias." he explained. To this, William raised his eyebrown. "Bias?" Sao Feng's eyes were focused on William as he nodded. "It regards his son, Madara Kawahiru. My Militia has him apprehended on charges of possible rebellion." Sao Feng explained. Isis's eyes narrowed in disguist, "And this decision. Why were we not told of this prior? Such an action would involve the entire Reikai." she retorted. "Now now, Queen Isis. Sao Feng, please go on." William intervened. Sao Feng nodded, and cleared his throat. "Soul Society is gaining new forces and new powers at a suspicious rapid rate. As of recent, there have been three people who were able to defeat the enemy of the Reikai, Datara Kawahiru. A feat that had not been rivaled since Hazuma-sama's time." Sao Feng explained. "I find that Soul Society may be attempting to seige the position of ultimate superpower, and I am not about to allow those traitors to even have the chance." he continued. William and Isis remained silent, taking in all the logic in Sao Feng's reasoning. "What do you propose then... Sao Feng?" asked Isis. Sao Feng cupped his hands together, and closed his eyes as his answer widened the eyes of both respective rulers in shock. "Execution." Setting Sail *'Location:' Coast of Rukongai - 10,000 Miles off from Seireitei Seireitou was standing on the sandy coast of Rukongai, overlooking the sunrise reflecting on the wooden composure of his ship. The wind blew his hair all around, as his eyes narrowed due to the salt in the air. He was prepared to set sail, and awaited his teammates. Raian, above all others, was the one he was mostly interested in arriving. "Seireitou-san!" called out a man with scholarly brown hair, accompanied by a blonde man with an eery grin. Seireitou's attention was centered to the two newcomers, "Sorata? Norinaga? What're you two doin' here?" he asked. "Isn't it obvious? If you end up waging a war between the two nations, you're gonna get yourself in an assload of trouble. It'd be wise to be assisted by fellow Seijin in this. Besides..." he began. "Kamui is one of us. He's a Seijin too." he answered. Seireitou gave off a small smile, "Thank you... guys." he softly responded. A Senkaimon opened not too far from the shore. Guided by a hell butterfly was Raian Getsueikirite, who looked slightly older despite it only having been a week since Seireitou had last seen him. With him was a long haired Ichigo Kurosaki, a giant, muscular dog-like Shinigami with black and grey fur, and a beautiful woman whose race could not be discerned from sight, though she did carry a sword with her. "Sei-san. Nice to see you once more. What was the summons for?" Raian asked casually, leaving his group behind to join his friend. Seireitou looked at him comically, "Mod Squad much?" he thought to himself. "Raian, I see you've gotten pretty strong since our last fight." he smiled, walking over to meet his friend half-way. "Well, you should know why I've called you here. Hopefully now... we should be ready to get ourselves wrapped up in more trouble." he mused, chuckling alittle. Raian cocked his eye with a grin, "More trouble, say you? I'm in. I was getting bored in Karakura." he replied, signalling his comrades to join the two men on the coastline. "Well then, I guess we should set sail then? Eh Raian?" he smirked, as he flashed to the top of the bow of the ship in an instant. The two Seijin followed suit, awaiting for Raian's team to also board. Raian and his team boarded promptly. Doing so reminded him of the Hell Tournament, and the time spent with his Arrancar teammates. They had all died during the great war that had led to this time period. He wouldn't let this memory affect his mood, however, they had a job to do. He cracked his knuckles confidently, "Let's go then. Let's go save Kamui." *'Location:' Emerald City, Yāolù - Sapphire Tower, Ninth Dungeon Inside, was nothing but darkness surrounding the room. Kamui, upon being brought to Yāolù, and sentenced by Sao Feng for execution, was to remain here until the date of his execution; roughly a month from tonight. His lifeless purple eyes gently turned, looking at a shred of light emitting from a crack in the wall near him. He couldn't see much here, but noticed a small rat entering the entrance. There was nothing he could do here; his spiritual powers were sealed by several Kidō-like spells, and his Zanpakutō was confiscated in the throne room of the Emperor. Kamui was left alone here, but he was concerned about his brother. Did they kill him off? Was he kept in jail here as well? This was the only thought that kept him alive in this dreary place... "Seireitou..." *'Location:' Aboard the Ship - Rukongai Coast Seireitou's eyes widen instantly, as if he could have heard Kamui's voice. He shook his head alittle, as Raian approached him from behind. Seireitou nodded over to Sorata, as the latter went below to raise the sails as the wind began to pick up. "Raian... I have a feeling we will come across our destinies on this journey." he explained. Raian nodded as he looked out to sea, "I agree with you. But whatever it is we come across here, we mustn't forget who we are and what we stand for." he reminded his friend. "The only way we'll be able to help Kamui is if we play things safe and not go in guns blazing. Long story short, don't worry old friend. We'll get to him. Just as you helped me save my brother on many occasions, so will I help you save yours." he reassured Seireitou. Suddenly memories of his brother flooded back into his head. It was hard not to feel immensely sad; he knew how Seireitou felt, but he wouldn't say it. It wouldn't help either one of them if he did. Before long the feeling subsided and he breathed easy. As they set sail, Seireitou called them all inside the large dinner cabin. Inside, on a medium-sized wooden table was a large map depicting 'Soul Society' on the bottom right-side, with a landmass that was almost fifty times bigger than Soul Society on the map labeled as 'Yāolù'. "Alright, now. According to Yukara-san, Yāolù has a large militia on the seas known as their Navy. I believe Raian would have a better knowledge of that term, though. This won't be easy to navigate through... considering this sea is made of water that won't allow us to stand on it with reishi." he stated. "If their navy is anything like the ones in the human world, they'll be composed of hundreds of other ships which will attack ours if we aren't a welcome sight. The waters in this ocean drain reiatsu, so us personally fighting won't do much good. I'm sure their ships are guarded from Kidō, because that would be our next most obvious option. Basically, it's down to our individual Zanpakutō abilities, the capabilities of this ship, and our own cunning." Raian chimed in, causing his teammates to nod. Sorata then pointed to a section of the map. "What if we use Bakudō #26: Kyokko? On the entire ship? That may allow us to slip past the ships unseen." he stated. This time the dog-Shinigami, named Chūkin Komamura, spoke up, "Against an unorganized enemy, that would work, but here, we have a nation of Shinigami much like ourselves. They'll be prepared for that sort of deception and most likely have lookouts that are solely purposed with sensing Kidō out." he said in a deep voice. "He has a point. Perhaps.. we should just wing it. What say you guys?" Seireitou asked the others around the table. Raian, Hinata, and Ichigo, voiced their agreement. Followed by Chūkin's nod to signify that his teammates were in agreement. They then awaited Seireitou's teammates' agreement. Sorata didn't mention much, neither did Yū. Seireitou then nodded silently, "My only concern is that we have no clue as to the geographical layout of their structures and cities. How the hell are we gonna find Kamui in this place?" he pondered. "Well, if Kamui is in prison, they have to have every spell in the book on him to keep his level of reiatsu down and out of his control. They've also probably separated him from his sword, but I bet it's spirit knows where he is. Since they emit similar reiatsu, we'll try to sense for Kamui. The reiatsu we sense will likely by his zanpakutō. We'll find it, nab it and ask it where Kamui is. Geographical issues can be solved later." Raian explained. The New Arrival Seireitou's eyes narrowed, his hand to his chin, as he nodded. "That would work. In the end, I believe actually getting to Yāolù's coast will be much more difficult than actually finding Kamui." he stated. Suddenly, Seireitou remembered the things that Shōyō told him, about the Akirakyū, and Suzaku's possible involvement with them. He turned to Raian, "That would remind me, I-" he started, as the presence of a new arrival shocked each of the people in the cabin. Raian and Ichigo were the first to bust out the door, looking up to see a new person on the edge of the bow. The new arrival was sitting down with his legs slightly folded; one arm keeping him upright as he stared out into the vast reiatsu sea. He was wearing a black long sleeve shirt and faded military green cargo pants from the style found in the World of the Living. In his hands was a metal flask which seemed to be full of liquor. However this did not seem to deter the arrival, as his eyes were still calm and thoughtful. He glanced ever so slightly backwards at the noise coming from the door behind him, before returning his gaze to the sea and sky. Raian drew his white Zangetsu, "Tch..." he muttered as he sprung into action. "Figures we'd have an intruder." he thought, annoyed. With one swing of the giant cleaver blade, a purple blast encompassed the stranger and himself. As the blast disappated, it was clear all had not gone as Raian had planned. The stranger had taken his free hand and placed it between him and the white Zangetsu. It had blocked him from being sliced, and also managed to save him from the blast as well. He pushed lightly with his hand and sent the heavy blade, along with its wielder, backwards; knocking Raian off balance. Raian regained his balance and landed on the ship's deck with gracefulness. "Who are you?" he asked, keeping a firm grip on Zangetsu. At the slightest twitch, he would be ready. The ghost of a grin danced across the stranger's face at the cautiousness of Raian; but it was more in approval than in disdain. Where they were going, it was best to be on guard. The stranger turned so that one eye could view Raian, and then he spoke, "Just someone, like you, that's along for the ride." Did that mean he was an ally? The cloth wrapped around the tang of Zangetsu expanded and wrapped the blade. He looked back at the cabin where Seireitou was emerging, hoping to get an answer for who the man really was. Seireitou began to chuckle softly, clapping his hands softly. "Excellent enterance, Tetsuro-san." he commented, as he gave a narrow look to Raian. "Blast first, questions later?" Raian shrugged, "You can never be too sure about people now days. Especially where we're going." he countered with a smirk on his face. "True True." he smirked, as he faced Tetsuro. "I doubt Taka or Tenmu came with you?" he asked. Tetsuro smiled faintly at them, "If they had you would have noticed them way before you noticed me." Having followed Tetsuro a Teen Shinigami with white hair walks up and keeps his eyes low not looking at the group of powerful shinigami before him. "uh hello everyone" Seireitou's eyes turned to the newcomer, as he smiled. "The gang's all here. Excellent." he stated, welcoming Taka into the group. He then turned to Raian, "Full sail ahead!" Entering Yāolù's Seas Raian nodded, and ordered the ship to commence it's movements again. The ship made a lurch and then began progressing forward, ever closer to the enemy's borders. Seireitou's eyes narrowed, "We're gettin' there soon, Kamui..." he said to himself as the ship began to move slower and slower. His eyes looked down, noting how the waves seem to start building all of a sudden. "Steady she goes..." Taka stood at the bow of the ship staring out to sea, he was amazed he was allowed to join this group of powerful shinigami all of which were former captains of the Gotei 13 and the leader was the cousin to his own teacher and whose powers exceeded his teachers and his own exponentially. "I hope i don't screw up this mission." He thought to himself. Raian went down to the cabin and called all of the others in. Then, with a low level Kidō he had invented, he summoned a holographic map in front of them showing Yāolù's shoreline surrounded by ships. "This is the hostile blockade. It's blocking all hopes of us entering Yāolù to save Kamui. This ship here," he said, pointing towards a large black ship towards the back, "...is their flagship. Meaning the Shinigami in charge of their fleet is there. We're just one ship, so on our own, we stand no chance against them. However, like I said, we still have our Zanpakutō, this ship's weapons, and our own minds as our advantages. Chances are, most of the Shinigami on these ships only have a Shikai, if that. The captain might have a Bankai, but then again, I don't know how Yāolù works militarily. While the rest of us fight, one of us with the best protective abilities need to stay behind and protect the ship from attack. I'm not talking about Kidō either. It needs to be a Zanpakutō power. The rest of us will split up into groups. The weaker ones will target the frigates on the edge of the blockade. The rest of us should target the capital ships, while Sei and I take the flagship. Try not to allow them to send word back to the mainland. If the leaders of this land catch wind of our arrival, we're screwed once we make landfall." Raian explained, sounding incredibly knowledgeable; more so than he ever had before. "Are there any objections?" Taka looked at Raian and spoke. "We'll my zanpakutou isn't necessarily a defensive one, I do have my Susanoo ability and my Tsukyomi" He started to explain. "Susanoo creates a large impenetrable defense and Tsukyomi allows me to make myself and whatever I touch intangible for a time limit. If you want ill defend the ship" He finished second guessing his own power. "That would be fine, if no one else objects." Raian replied, looking around the room for approval.